Sono poeta

 

Sono poeta (U. Bottoni)

Allor lento io vagando, ad una, ad una

                                                            Palpo le piaghe onde la rea fortuna,

                                                            E amore, e il mondo hanno il mio core aperto.

                                                                                                            UGO FOSCOLO.

In quei momenti che la barca mia,

S’arena sopra il mare de la vita,

Quando più oscura ne divien la via

E sitibonda mugghia l’acqua ardita,

 

Quando la mente fugge nel mistero                                    5

E sol rimane la realtá crudele,

Quando ne’ spazi vagola ’l pensiero

E provo del dolor l’acerbo fiele,

 

Sento una voce allora mugolante

Che irridendo nel cor vibra secreta                                    10

E mi ripete in quel penoso istante

«Tu non hai vena, tu non sei poeta!»

Auro d'Alba, 1906.

Some good and bad pro-life news from the US elections

 

In this week’s US election, citizens voted not only in the presidential and two congressional elections but also in numerous referendums, including several on pro-life issues. In three states, attempts to make abortion laws more liberal were rejected, while seven states passed pro-choice ballot measures.

The most significant pro-life victory occurred in Florida, where an effort to extend the legal abortion limit from 6 to 24 weeks of gestation did not reach the required quota of 60pc of the vote.

Pro-life advocates, led by Governor Ron DeSantis, successfully blocked Amendment 4, a proposed constitutional amendment aimed at establishing a “right” to abortion. The amendment would also have allowed abortions after 24 weeks for “health reasons”, which are always vague, like in Britain.

If passed, Amendment 4 would have nullified Florida’s current six-week abortion limit and potentially override parental consent requirements, threatening parental rights.

Despite over $40 million in support from out-of-state pro-abortion organisations, the amendment fell three short of the 60pc threshold needed to pass constitutional amendments in the state.

Pro-life advocates celebrated significant wins also in Nebraska and South Dakota, as voters rejected proposed constitutional amendments aimed at expanding abortion access.

Nebraska had two papers on the ballot. The current law prohibits abortions after the first trimester (12 weeks), except for medical emergencies or cases related to rape or incest.

An attempt to lift the 12-week limit was rejected by voters, while they approved by 55pc a competing ballot measure to enshrine the current limit not only in legislation but also in the state constitution.

In South Dakota abortion is banned except to save the life of the mother. A constitutional right to abortion was opposed by 58.6pc of voters.

These results are extremely important for the prolife movements. In 2022, the Supreme Court found that there is no right to abortion in the US Constitution, and left every state to regulate this issue in its constitutions or in legislation. In the meantime, the pro-life side has lost one vote after another, until the various referendums this week.

Another important pro-life victory was achieved in West Virginia, where voters approved a constitutional amendment to prohibit assisted suicide and euthanasia. They were already illegal but now the ban is now in the state constitution.

Unfortunately, radical pro-choice amendments passed in seven states.

Colorado voted to create a ‘right’ to abortion in the state constitution and allowing the use of public funds for it. Its law was already one of the most extreme as it does not restrict abortion after a specific point in a pregnancy. Babies can be killed up to birth. In 2020, voters rejected an initiative that would have banned abortions after 22 weeks.

A similarly radical amendment passed with a large support (61.5pc) in the state of New York, where abortion is already allowed up to birth.

In Maryland, Montana and Nevada, where abortion is already legal up to viability (24 weeks), voters added a new article to the Constitution’s Declaration of Rights establishing a “right to reproductive freedom”.

Missouri voters also made abortion ‘a fundamental right’ to its Constitution by a small margin (51.7pc). The pro-choice campaign spent almost $29 million compared to a mere $1.3 million of pro-life side.

In Arizona, where abortion is legal for any reasons up to 15 weeks of gestation, 61pc of voters supported an amendment to the state constitution establishing that the state may not interfere with ‘the fundamental right’ to abortion before the point of foetal viability.

These result show how radical the pro-choice movement has become in the US. They always push the limits and, even when the law has no gestational limits to abortion, they push it to make a ‘fundamental constitutional right’.

These recent pro-life victories are encouraging but the disappointing results in many states show that fight for the right to life is far from over.

“They can have an abortion every month if they want”

 

A recent study by two pro-choice academics provides interesting insights into the GPs who offer abortion services in Ireland. Those GPs, while fully in favour of abortion, nonetheless have reservations about some of what they are seeing, and in particular about women who have had multiple abortions in a relatively short time.

Very revealingly, when one doctor raised concerns about women having multiple abortions, someone from the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), which is a big abortion provider, accused the doctor of being ‘judgemental’, and said women should be able to have an abortion every month if they want.

The research, published by two members of the Law School at University College Cork (UCC), is based on interviews with 15 doctors, most of whom are part of START (Southern Task-force on Abortion and Reproductive Topics), a network of pro-choice healthcare professionals.

According to the study, a key motivation for participating in providing abortions is “respect for human rights, women’s rights, and equality.” ‘Dr H’ (all names are anonymised) stated: “I’m a very great believer in bodily autonomy and the rights of the individual.”

Some of these doctors were politically active in campaigns to repeal the Eighth Amendment. However, the anonymous interviews reveal that even among strong pro-choice advocates, there are reservations about aspects of the work they are doing.

‘Dr P’ told the researchers: “I think it’s important to acknowledge that we’ve made a decision that a woman should be able to have an abortion if she wants one and, big deal, you shouldn’t have to justify it or beg for one. But at the same time, like I remember, I had one girl, a student, and she had three abortions in 18 months. And I remember thinking, you know, that’s not what I voted yes for.”

It should be noted that the study is written from a distinctly pro-choice perspective. It was partially funded by the Irish Family Planning Association, and one of its authors is a member of the Abortion Working Group of the National Women’s Council of Ireland. Only selected responses from the interviews are published, and we do not have access to the complete data, yet these selected quotes reveal some hesitations.

Another doctor, referred to as ‘Dr O’R’, remarked: “You know, I have had five who’ve had three [abortions]. Four or five women for three. And when we’re talking in our group, we get quite paternalistic saying, ‘Jesus, throw the Implanon [a long-term form of contraception] into her.’ And when we had BPAS over, they were saying, ‘How dare you be so judgemental? She can have a termination every month if she wants.’ Still, you know, the medic part of me goes, ‘God—surely that’s tough on her,’ you know, but yeah—how do you reconcile that?”

Unlike other countries, Ireland collects almost no data on women undergoing terminations, so it is unclear how many have had more than one abortion but this study confirms that this is not uncommon here.

The interviews also reveal tensions within GP practices between those who provide abortion services and those who do not. “Yeah, I’m probably known as the baby killer, but no, all nicely. Some of my very best friends and colleagues absolutely refuse to do this. They will remain my best friends. You know, I don’t do toenails. I send them up to my colleague. He sends me, you know… so we, you know, I think we’re all over it,” said ‘Dr O’R’.

Some participants in the study admitted they do not discuss their involvement in providing abortion services with family members or acquaintances. ‘Dr B’ stated: “I would say there’s very few people who would talk openly about the fact that they provide that service in a social setting because they just don’t know who’s there and what their view is going to be. And that’s actually a stigma, like, that is actually, you know, a stigma that you’re carrying.”

The report by Marie O’Shea on abortion services in Ireland estimates that around 90pc of Irish GPs do not participate in offering these services. This new study suggests that even those who are involved may struggle to reconcile their ideological commitment with the realities they face in practice.

Il furto

Candelabri di stelle
sulla piazza remota
come un' immensa basilica vuota 
La croce enorme col Cristo
(unico segno di veglia)
sorveglia
la fontana di Papa Sisto.
Le quattro strade assorte
camminano fin sulle porte
della città sgominata.
Assediata?
Messa a fuoco?
Abbandonata?
Il gobbo - unico cittadino
reperibile
fece dalla soglia capolino
e si avanzò - stampellando
sulle gambe contorte
di contrabbando.
Corsero brividi d'orrore
su tutte le porte ...
bendate
dalle gelide mani della sera ...
Il gobbo raggiunse la croce
nel centro della piazza
e a colpi di zappa la svelse
dalla terra scavata di recente.
Poi se la caricò sulle spalle
con tutto il suo Cristo
sanguinolento
si segnò con l'acqua di Papa Sisto
e disparve
fra i capelli discinti dell'ultima luna.
All'alba gli abitanti
della cittadella risorta
morirono d'orrore sugli sbocchi
della minuscola piazza.
Dalla croce pendeva
incoronato di spine
il piccolo gobbo mago
con un sogghigno di lago
sulle labbra paonazze.

da Baionette (1915)

Just how many people are really atheists?

 

A recent survey has found that, for the first time, atheists in the UK outnumber those who believe in God. Or do they? Because an awful lot depends on exactly what people are asked.

The “Explaining Atheism” project is a global research initiative led by Queen’s University Belfast and recently released interim findings appearing to show that atheism is now more widespread than theism in the UK.

The study surveyed approximately 25,000 individuals across six countries, including Brazil, China, Denmark, Japan, the UK, and the USA. It draws upon data from the British Social Attitudes Survey, the World Values Survey, and an earlier project by the same team, “Understanding Unbelief” (2017-2021).

According to the British Social Attitudes Survey (BSAS), belief in God in the UK dropped from 41.8 pc in 2008 to 37.4 pc in 2018. During the same period, the percentage of people who say they do not believe in God rose from 35.2 pc to 43pc.

However, a survey conducted by the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) put the number of atheists in Britain at 26pc, not 43pc.

Why the difference? It seems to come down to how the question is asked. The BSAS asked people point-blank whether they believed in God or not. But the ISSP asked a wider range of questions from emphatic atheism to emphatic theism and everything in between.

A similar phenomenon was observed in Ireland, where the wording of the Census 2022 question “What is your religion?” was modified to “What is your religion, if any?” The first response option was “no religion”, whereas this had been the last option in the 2016 Census. This change led to a big increase in “no religion” responses. No surprise there.

Prof. Stephen Bullivant, a sociologist of religion at St Mary’s University in London, noted that in some countries, the term ‘atheist’ carries a degree of stigma, and people may avoid identifying as such, even if they do not believe in God or practice any religion. Conversely, in other cultures, atheism or secularity has become the norm, leading respondents to self-identify as atheists, even if they still hold some belief in God.

Interestingly, the “Explaining Atheism” study also found that “non-belief in God does not necessarily rule out belief in other supernatural phenomena, as most atheists and agnostics express some type of supernatural belief.”

By the way, the findings indicate that belief, or non-belief, in God is predominantly influenced by socialisation, rather than by factors such as education, fear of death, or a need for structure. Parental upbringing and societal expectations about religion were identified as the most significant factors. For instance, those not exposed to religious practise by their parents during childhood were more likely to identify as atheists.

In other words, we are very conventional. If the broad social convention is religious, then we are more likely to be religious, and if the convention is broadly secular, we are more likely to be secular, or even atheistic. We don’t seem to think as much about our beliefs as we might like to imagine.

Extreme euthanasia agenda revealed at Irish conference

Last month, End of Life Ireland hosted the 2024 international conference of the World Federation of Right to Die Societies, which pro-euthanasia campaigners from around the world attended.  Several speakers at the conference made no secret of their wish to see euthanasia and assisted suicide permitted on very broad grounds indeed, far beyond the terminally ill.  They are not even trying to hide the slippery slope.

On 17th October, the Dáil will vote on the Report of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Assisted Dying, which recommends both euthanasia and assisted suicide for patients with an incurable and irreversible condition. We can already see the ambition of campaigners to go much further than this.

Speakers at the conference included Justin McKenna and Jane Lazer of End of Life Ireland. When they appeared before the Oireachtas Committee, they expressed a wish that euthanasia and assisted suicide be made available on broad grounds. They clearly stated their aim to extend assisted suicide to include patients suffering from conditions such as dementia and multiple sclerosis. Some of what they had to say can be found here.

Another speaker was Colin Brewer. He is worth noting because he was struck off the medical register in Britain in 2006 for serious professional misconduct. According to The Guardian, he had provided “patients with a lethal cocktail of drugs that led to the death of one and the development of further addictions in several others”.

Later, Brewer revealed that between 2013 and 2016 he had helped six British patients with dementia to end their lives at assisted suicide clinics in Switzerland, despite none of these patients being terminally ill. Although Brewer was no longer licensed to practise in Britain, he nonetheless assessed these patients’ mental capacity to choose death before their trips abroad.

Why did the Irish speakers seem happy to share a platform with him?

Brewer is an advocate for euthanasia not only for those suffering from dementia but also for “patients with motor neurone disease, stroke and other intractable and/or progressive conditions don’t want to face years of intolerable quality of life.”

At the Dublin conference, Brewer’s presentation was titled: “Most people considering MAID (medically assisted death) for early dementia aren’t ‘depressed’, they are understandably unhappy.” His panel also featured a presentation titled “Dementia as part of the end of life conversation,” and on the same day, two Canadian activists spoke about “Glimpses into dementia and assisted dying”.

Five of the six patients assessed by Brewer ended their lives at the Dignitas clinic in Zurich.

Silvan Luley, a representative of Dignitas, also spoke at the conference. His talk, “Assistance for the right to choose the time and manner of one’s end of life – Beyond terminal”, underscored that Dignitas offers assisted suicide not only for terminally ill patients but also for those with “unbearable pain”, which is defined entirely at the discretion of the person seeking to die.

When Luley presented at the Joint Oireachtas Committee, last year, he noted that less than half of those who die at Dignitas are terminally ill.

Luley also revealed that 12 Irish residents have died at Dignitas since 2003, while approximately 100 Irish people are currently members of the organisation. The membership fee for “accompanied suicide” is 2,500 Swiss Francs (around 2,600 euro), but the full service, including funeral and administrative arrangements, costs more than 11,500 euro plus VAT.

During his address to the Joint Oireachtas Committee, Luley emphasised Dignitas’ philosophy: “The core thing really is to install a system of maximum freedom of choice and at the same time education for the public and education for the healthcare system and healthcare professionals so they learn how to deal with and how to listen to wishes of people who say "I do not want to continue living". We must change the culture via education in the direction of making the base layer so that people can come forward and whatever the reason may be for them to say "I want to end my own life, I want to die and I want to use suicide", they are being met at eye level and from there on, there is discussion around what is there in terms of solutions towards reinstalling quality of life, to bring them back on track to enjoy life and have a good quality of life, and if that is not possible to make it possible that these people can have a professional way out of their suffering, which is assisted dying.” 

Members of the Dáil who will vote on the Report next month must recognise that once assisted suicide or euthanasia is legalised, it becomes difficult to maintain strict limitations. The experiences of other countries, along with discussions at the recent international conference, demonstrate that there will be continual pressure to further liberalise these laws. To prevent such escalation, the Report must be firmly rejected.

 

P. S.

A prominent pro-euthanasia campaigner in Ireland is Tom Curran from Exit International. Exit International was previously a member of the World Federation of Right to Die Societies but left in 2021. While the Federation prefers a medical model regulated by legislation, Exit International believes euthanasia and assisted suicide are fundamental human rights. They argue that any mentally competent adult should have access to these options without needing to meet any medical criteria, and that healthcare professionals should not be required to participate.

The controversial content of an SPHE textbook for young teenagers

Last week, a publisher issued an apology for the stereotypical portrayal of an Irish family in a textbook. The volume, which was withdrawn following public outrage, was produced for the new Junior Cycle course on Social, Personal, and Health Education (SPHE) introduced last year by the Department of Education.

A closer examination of these SPHE textbooks reveals even more serious concerns. One such example is “My Wellbeing Journey”, a text from a major publisher, authored by prominent SPHE teachers.

One of the authors is Eoghan Cleary, Assistant Principal at Templecarrig Secondary School, Co. Wicklow, who is often invited to comment on sex education on radio and television.

The second volume of “My Wellbeing Journey”, aimed at students aged 13–14, includes a lesson dedicated entirely to masturbation. In one of the exercises, labelled a "pairs activity", students are presented with images of eleven animals and asked to guess, together with their classmates, how many of these animals engage in masturbation. This activity is undeniably shocking, yet the book is freely available online for anyone to verify: https://online.flippingbook.com/view/814709122/128/#zoom=true

Is animal behaviour really a good guide to human behaviour? Humans have reason and a moral sense. Animals do not.

Young students are also told that “Even babies and young children know it feels good to touch their own genitals.” This appears to be presenting babies and toddlers as sexual beings.

Another author of “My Wellbeing Journey” is Pam O’Leary, an SPHE teacher at Cork Educate Together secondary school.

In an interview about sex education some years back, Pam O’Leary stated: “I’m interested in teaching students about safety and health. Morality shouldn’t come into Relationship and Sex Education. It’s not about what students should do in any moral sense”. Would most parents agree with this view?

Accordingly, the “My Wellbeing Journey” textbook makes no direct reference to moral values, focusing instead on the concepts of ‘healthy boundaries’ and ‘safe spaces’. It suggests that choices and behaviours are acceptable as long as they are deemed "healthy and safe". However, it is impossible to teach human relationships and sexuality without referencing ethical principles. Human beings inherently base their decisions on values and principles.

Even more perplexing is the attempt to use animal behaviour as evidence that certain actions are normal or natural. Animals are driven by biological imperatives and instinct, whereas humans are free to act according to what they believe is right and just. Forced copulation or aggressive mating, for example, is not uncommon in the animal kingdom but the authors, obviously, do not mention this in their chapter about consent because we are more than animals, we are moral beings. So why do they cover masturbation among animals in a textbook for young teenagers?

The textbook also makes no mention of marriage, which is perhaps unsurprising given that the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, with the blessing of the Department of Education, removed references to marriage and parenting from the SPHE curriculum.  

Textbooks and teachers are granted a certain degree of flexibility in covering topics outlined in the NCCA curriculum, nonetheless, there is no promotion of commitment or long-term relationships. These concepts are never presented as preferable to casual or short-term relationships. Instead, the message remains: it is all acceptable if it is "healthy and safe". Again, what do parents think?

Unsurprisingly, the curriculum includes lessons on "gender identity", which is presented as fact rather than as a contested ideology that separates being male or female from biological reality. The volume is so steeped in gender ideology that some of the expressions used sound ridiculous.

For example, in the section on puberty in Volume 3, the authors say: “Most typically, people with female-typical anatomy generally begin puberty at 11 years of age, and those with male-typical anatomy begin at 12 years of age”.

Girls are thus referred to as “people with female-typical anatomy”, and boys, of course, as “those with male-typical anatomy”. These convoluted expressions are used in the name of ‘inclusivity’, as, according to gender ideology, not all individuals with female-typical anatomy are women.

They are whatever ‘gender’ they identify as and remember, nobody knows how many genders exist.

Many parents likely disagree with this gender ideology. Are they aware that it is now the dominant philosophy framework taught in SPHE classes?

Are they aware of what else is in these SPHE textbooks, and also the key aspects of life that are missing?

Città di vita

Negli ultimi anni della sua esistenza Auro D'Alba scrisse per la rivista bimestrale "Città di Vita", pubblicata dalla Basilica di Santa Croce in Firenze.

Ho aggiunto i dettagli di questi articoli di Auro D'Alba alla pagina dedicata alla sua bibliografia.

La Notte dei Serpenti - Canti e tradizioni popolari d'Abruzzo (2024) 2° edizione

Strade dei villini

Pel dolce sole, per le bianche stelle
si piacque la dolente anima mia
ritornare a l'ignota nostalgia,
sorella triste fra le tue sorelle;

ed ascoltò la semplice elegia
d'una volta, fra i chiostri di mortelle
vide ancora sorridere a le celle
di Sant'Agnese l'umil litania:

Ma l'ospedale mi cantò nel cuore
il miserere delle sue corsie,
eco dei gravi passi della morte,

e risvegliate dall'antico orrore.
l'ombre imminenti per le bianche vie'
dischiusero i battenti delle porte'

The newspaper that stood up for freedom of worship during the pandemic

 

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the Irish Government imposed the longest ban on public worship in Europe, while in Northern Ireland restrictions were less drastic. A new academic study says that religious institutions and media outlets largely supported these measures, with the main exception of the Irish Catholic newspaper.

The study, by Gladys Ganiel and Caoimhe Ní Dhónaill from Queen’s University Belfast, analyses the response from the main Churches, and also religious publication to the very restrictive approach by the authorities.

The two authors noticed that “strict restrictions in other countries prompted religious leaders to criticise the government or to seek redress in the courts on grounds of religious freedom. But such discourses were almost absent on the island of Ireland.”

Religious institutions, including the Catholic Church and Protestant denominations, largely supported the government-imposed restrictions, despite their often very heavy-handed nature. The churches justified their stance by appealing to the broader common good and the need to protect the most vulnerable members of society from the virus.

“No churches, church leaders, or church groups brought religious freedom cases to the courts”, (unlike in various other countries) observed the study. The only exception was Declan Ganley, a prominent Catholic businessman, who contended that the government’s ban on public worship was unjust and violated the fundamental rights of believers. The case was ultimately dropped when restrictions were eased.

Ganiel and Ní Dhónaill noticed that in Northern Ireland, religious leaders were more actively consulted by the government than in the South. This consultation led to a generally cooperative stance by religious institutions in the region. The Protestant churches, for example, continued to encourage adherence to the restrictions while also acknowledging the emotional and psychological toll the pandemic was taking on individuals, particularly due to isolation and the inability to gather for worship.

In the Republic, however, “the government’s approach to restrictions revealed a lack of trust in religion: piety could be perceived as dangerous; or, alternatively, the rights of the pious were deemed less important than those of others”, says the study.

While the Catholic hierarchy accepted the State’s top-down approach and officially supported the government’s measures, there was a notable voice of dissent within the religious media. The Irish Catholic newspaper emerged as a critic of the measures, particularly concerning the ongoing closure of churches.

The paper voiced frustrations over the exclusion of religious services from essential activities, contrasting Ireland’s severe restrictions with more lenient approaches in other European countries.

Quite a few of the articles in that newspaper which questioned the ban on public worship were written by the head of the Iona Institute, David Quinn.

Initially supportive of the government’s efforts, the Irish Catholic‘s tone shifted as the pandemic progressed. The paper highlighted the prolonged closure of churches even as other parts of society began to reopen, questioning why religious gatherings were considered less essential than other activities. This position reflected a broader concern within the publication that Ireland’s secularising public sphere was increasingly marginalising religious expression.

Even the Catholic Church leadership was criticised for not doing enough to defend the rights of the faithful. The paper argued that the government’s approach represented a form of modern-day persecution, likening it to historical anti-Catholic measures.

In contrast, the Protestant media in Northern Ireland, where there was more dialogue between church leaders and the government, largely supported the restrictions and praised political leaders for their decisions.

John Henry Newman: Education, Wisdom and the Gentleman

 

A talk by Dr Angelo Bottone. Universidad CEU San Pablo Madrid, 28 February 2020

New poll shows public misgivings about euthanasia

 

A new poll highlights significant public concerns about the potential legalisation of euthanasia and assisted suicide in the UK. It also highlights contradictory attitudes. There is broad support for allowing the procedures but nervousness about how it may work out.

While a majority may support “assisted dying” in principle, many feel that the complexities and risks involved make it unsafe for implementation in Britain. A substantial 60pc worry that pro-euthanasia legalisation would alter the doctor-patient relationship, and 56pc fear it could normalise suicide.

Concerns also include the possibility of pressuring vulnerable people, especially under the strain of NHS budgets, to choose death. 43pc fear it could incentivise health professionals to encourage some patients to take their lives.

The poll found that most people supported legalising euthanasia or assisted suicide but believed it would backfire in practice. (Curiously, the poll found that the 18-24 age cohort is the only in which the majority of respondents does not support a change in the legislation.)

Moreover, 70pc of respondents believe that countries like Canada and the Netherlands have “gone too far” with similar laws.

In both of these countries some of the worst fears of euthanasia critics have been confirmed (see here and here) and these fears are confirmed by a new report about Canada titled “From exceptional to routine”.

This study shows that “Medical Assistance in Dying” (MAiD) was introduced in 2015 as a rare option and it is now the fifth cause of death in Canada.

While the number of denied requests continue to decrease every year, approved cases went from 1,028 in 2016, the first year of operation, to 13,241 in 2022. This represents a thirteenfold increase. No other country has seen such a dramatic rate of growth.

Unlike other jurisdictions, the criminal prohibition in Canada on euthanasia and assisted suicide was overturned not through new legislation but through the courts. It was originally intended for exceptional cases and then, in a few years, most of the initial safeguards have been removed by judges or by legislators.

For instance, there was a minimum ten-day assessment period for MAiD but a government bill removed it in 2021. The median time between written request and death in 2022 was only eleven days, and it is possible for requests to be assessed and provided in a single day.

Moreover, the previous requirement that the patient give final consent before administration of death is now no longer mandatory.

Euthanasia and assisted suicide became initially available to persons whose death was “reasonably foreseeable” and later it was extended to anyone considering that their physical suffering, from a disability for example, is intolerable to them.

One of the few restrictions still in place is again under attack. Currently, people suffering solely from mental disorders are not eligible for MAiD but a very recent case aims at removing this safeguard as it is considered discriminatory.

If it is offered to those who are in physical pain, why not to those who are in mental pain, argue the pro-euthanasia campaigners.

The growing acceptance and expansion of euthanasia and assisted suicide in Canada, including the potential for its use solely in cases of mental illness, raises alarms about the inevitable slippery slope such legalisation would create. Something worth considering before any attempt to change the law, here or in the UK.

Unlike Ireland, Britain can see the problem with international surrogacy

 

Ireland has recently passed one of the most permissive surrogacy law in Europe. To appreciate how extreme this law is, it can be compared with what is in the report issued last year by the Law Commission of England and Wales, in collaboration with the Scottish Law Commission.

This report reviews the current legislation and case law in the UK, which is already liberal by international standards, and proposes recommendations, including a draft bill for potential implementation. Unlike us, it recommends against international surrogacy.

Currently, in the UK, surrogacy is permitted, but the commissioning parents can apply for a parental order only after the child is born. The report recommends a new pathway so that the commissioning parents do not need to make an application to the court but, instead, their pre-conception agreement with the surrogate mother is registered by a newly proposed regulatory body, and they become legal parents as soon as the child is born.

The report repeatedly specifies that the pre-conception agreement is not a contract and is not enforceable by the parties against each other as a matter of contract law. The gestational mother can withdraw her consent before birth and up to six weeks after the baby is born.

In Ireland, the regulatory authority approves the surrogacy agreement before birth, and the application for a parental order is made after birth. This is the case for domestic and international arrangements.

The UK law reform, however, recommended against including international surrogacy arrangements in their proposed pathway, using the same arguments presented in Ireland—unfortunately without success—by the few members of the Oireachtas who opposed the new legislation.

“We have concluded that international surrogacy arrangements should be excluded from the new pathway, as we are concerned by the risks of exploitation since international surrogacy is beyond the jurisdiction of surrogacy regulation in the UK. … Such international surrogacy arrangements are almost invariably commercial in nature,” the report says.

The report highlights ethical, legal, and practical challenges. It acknowledges that international surrogacy often occurs in countries with weaker regulations, increasing the risk of exploitation of surrogate mothers. These women may face inadequate legal protections, poor healthcare, and financial arrangements that are not transparent or fair. The disparities in legal standards between countries can also create significant legal uncertainties for intended parents, particularly when bringing the child back to the UK.

“The risks of exploitation will depend on the effectiveness of regulation provided by national laws in different countries, and the impact that the payment available to women to be a surrogate can have on the lives of the surrogate and her family. Concerns may be greatest where regulation is inadequate, the sums of money payable to women who act as surrogates are life-changing, and where women do not have equal access to employment, education or other opportunities. While we do not consider that all international arrangements will necessarily be exploitative, we consider that the risk of exploitation is considerably higher than in domestic agreements and that those risks cannot be controlled by domestic laws”, says the report.

The UK Law reform document also notes the potential risks to the welfare of the child, including issues related to legal parentage, citizenship, and the child’s right to know their origins. The lack of international agreements on surrogacy standards exacerbates these risks, leading to inconsistent practices and outcomes.

Similar concerns were raised at the hearings of the Special Oireachtas Committee, even by some state officials, but they have been completely ignored by the Government. It is not an exaggeration to say that Ireland new surrogacy legislation is extreme, with no concern for the exploitation, commodification, and psychological harm caused, here and abroad.

Applied Ethics Primer

My latest publication

Applied Ethics Primer, by Letitia Meynell and Clarisse Paron - Reviewed by Angelo Bottone - Teaching Philosophy (Philosophy Documentation Center) https://www.pdcnet.org/teachphil/content/teachphil_2024_0047_0003_0440_0444

Libri nuovi e usati

«Capelli sul cuscino»

L’amico si affrettò a posare sulla tavola il volume coperto di bella carta color torlo d’uovo; il
volume sul cui frontespizio aveva letto questo titolo eccentrico: Capelli sul cuscino; e, torcendo la
bocca: «Fa un certo effetto» mi disse «come trovare uno (un capello, intendeva) nella minestra».
È il guaio dei titoli a tinte forti, e intenzioni, diremo così, sviscerate. Impazzano come la crema; e,
passato un po’ di tempo, non hanno più affatto sapore, o hanno preso sapori inquietanti.
In un grosso libro del dottor Eugenio Duehren: Le Marquis de Sade et son temps (Etudes relatives a
l’histoire de la Civilisation et des Moeurs au XVIII.me siècle),2 pubblicato in francese, a Berlino,
dall’editore Barsdorf, nel 1901, si impara che i titoli sul genere Sciogli la treccia, Capelli sul
cuscino, etc., etc., erano di gran moda in pieno incendio rivoluzionario. E il Duehren ce ne procura
un elenco, il quale potrebbe prestarsi a raffronti utili con i titoli in corso nella letteratura erotica e
frenetica che imperversò, or sono pochi mesi, durante quella che, secondo molti pronostici, pareva
dovesse essere la nostra vigilia rivoluzionaria.3
Mi preparavo, tempo fa, a sviluppare appunto cotesti raffronti in un articolo, quando una mattina,
guardando in giro, non ritrovai più i sintomi della rivoluzione, né la letteratura eroticorivoluzionaria.
In Italia i mutamenti storici avvengono con tale urgenza, che non si fa a tempo, il più
delle volte, a consacrarli non dico in un libro, ma in una colonna di giornale!
Sarebbe tuttavia ingiusto identificare, per via del titolo: Capelli sul cuscino, queste novelle di Auro
d’Alba4 (Edit. Mondadori, Milano, 1921), con la novellistica testé scomparsa. Il titolo può essere
sforzato ed oltrepassato. E le novelle, che del resto non dovrebbero nemmeno considerarsi,
strettamente, come novelle, possono non mancare di mende, nell’ideazione e nello stile. Ma
rappresentano un progresso marcato, sugli scritti precedenti del d’Alba. E si ornano continuamente
dei segni d’una sensibilità assai fresca e sincera. È facile, così, dimenticare anche quel tanto di
romantico, che l’autore non ha saputo risparmiarsi, tratteggiandoci alcuni dolenti episodi del
riassestamento postbellico.
Ciò che sopratutto importa, è che, con questo libro, lasciando le convenzionali bravate del
futurismo, il d’Alba mostra di volere impegnarsi in una via di lavoro serio. Un’altra pecorella torna

all’ovile. C’è posto anche per lei: e sia la benvenuta.

Emilio Cecchi

«La Tribuna», venerdì 18 novembre 1921.

A new critique of ‘Comprehensive Sexuality Education’

 

A major new paper criticises so-called “comprehensive sexuality education”, raising concerns about its content, effectiveness, impact on parental rights, and psychological effects on young people.

Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) focuses on the broader concept of ‘sexuality’ rather than just ‘sex’. It is promoted by international institutions such as the UN, the World Health Organisation (WHO), and the European Parliament, and also by major international NGOs.

CSE has also inspired the most recent updates of Relationships and Sexuality Education here in Ireland. (See for instance the 2022 background paper for Senior Cycle SPHE)

The report from Dr Joanna Williams, a British academic and former director of the Centre for the Study of Higher Education at University of Kent presents a detailed critique of CSE, expressing numerous concerns about its implementation and impact.

Dr Williams argues that CSE promotes values and behaviours that may conflict with the cultural, religious, or moral beliefs of many families and communities, as it goes beyond providing basic knowledge about human sexuality and reproductive health, serving as a tool to advance a specific political agenda.

CSE is often expressed in the language of political activism. For instance, Planned Parenthood, the main abortion provider in the US, claims that CSE can “provide an important forum for building solidarity between young people with varying degrees of access to privilege and sexual rights. It can also strengthen active citizenship skills for working towards a sexual culture that is more just and equal.”

A primary concern highlighted by Dr Williams is the age-appropriateness of the material in CSE programs. She argues that children are exposed to complex sexual information at a very young age, potentially leading to confusion and inappropriate behaviour.

For example, in its paper “Standards for Sexuality education in Europe”, the WHO states: “In this document, it was deliberately decided to call for an approach in which sexuality education starts from birth. From birth, babies learn the value and pleasure of bodily contact, warmth and intimacy. Soon after that, they learn what is ‘clean’ and what is ‘dirty’. Later, they learn the difference between male and female, and between intimates and strangers. The point is that, from birth, parents in particular send messages to their children that relate to the human body and intimacy. In other words, they are engaging in sexuality education.”

This is clearly an extremely broad concept of ‘sexuality education’. Why use this term to describes activities that have nothing at all to do with sex?

Dr Williams stresses the importance of protecting children’s innocence and argues that parents should play the primary role in educating them about sex, according to their maturity and readiness.

Dr Williams also questions the effectiveness of CSE in achieving its stated goals, such as reducing teenage pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections. She presents data and studies suggesting that CSE may not be as successful as its proponents claim. This is backed up by ESRI data from Ireland. An ESRI report from 2020 said there is “little relationship between receiving Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) or not and young people’s sexual behaviour and competence”.

Concerns about the infringement of parental rights and family autonomy in children’s education are also discussed. Dr Williams argues that CSE programs often bypass parental consent and involvement, imposing a one-size-fits-all approach that does not consider the diverse values and beliefs of families.

Another critical point raised is the potential psychological impact of CSE on children and adolescents. The exposure to explicit sexual content and discussions about sexual diversity at a young age can lead to psychological distress, confusion about gender identity, and an increase in risky sexual behaviours, she argues. Dr Williams calls for more research and evidence to assess the long-term impacts of CSE on mental and emotional health.

She also criticises the philosophy behind this approach, maintaining that CSE is rooted in a particular worldview that emphasises sexual freedom and autonomy, and promotes a relativistic approach to morality, where all sexual behaviours are seen as equally valid.

La povera gioia

La povera gioia

di Umberto Bottone (Auro D'Alba)

Bisogna che tu mi perdoni
le povere gioie passate.
Se volli bagnarmi di sole
il pallido viso,se i buoni
pensieri mi arrisero un poco,
se ebbi tranquille parole
per questa mia inutile vita,
tu sai, la mia povera gioia è finita.

Tu vedi le piccole case
lontane e non sogni - mai più -
mi pensi un novello Gesù
beato per lungo martirio,
mi vedi nel cupo delirio
dell'ore future e non piangi
per questa mia inutile vita:
tu sai, la mia povera gioia è finita.

Le porte che invano ho battute,
le soglie che invano passai
dischiudono i legni che inermi
raccolsero il grido. Là, in fondo,
c'è un pianto, un silenzio profondo;
nell'orto i girasoli infermi,
un raggio di luna sbianchita,
che sa: la mia povera gioia è finita.

O bianca malata che invano
ascolti a le porte crudeli
se gli abitatori infedeli
lasciarono un segno di vita,
su, dammi la piccola mano
sul tenue fianco avvilita,
e piangi: la povera gioia è finita.

Da Corde ai fianchi (1910)